Battle of the Saints

About

The exhibition will be on view through April 27, 2024. Battle of the Saints highlights the everyday icons worshiped across cultures. Their images and likeness have become so ubiquitous that they appear in our daily lives, from billboards to candles, key chains, murals, t-shirts, toys, and more throughout our world. Revered figures like wrestlers, saints, gods, artists, political activists, and athletes are just a few of the cultural icons whose likeness instills a profound sense of community.

The artists in the exhibition have all used iconography as a powerful storytelling tool. Some subvert the image of cultural and religious icons, while others elevate an everyday hero into holy figures by appropriating symbolism from religious depictions of saints, including the Virgen de Guadalupe. Additionally, some artists bring attention to influential figures through unique and innovative perspectives, such as elevating the luchador as a Saint symbolizing Chicano Power or showcasing La Virgen as an immigrant receiving her Green card.  

In a symbolic “Battle of the Saints,” we playfully bestow a sense of “sainthood” upon pop culture icons while revisiting traditional religious symbols and figures in a contemporary context. The exhibition acknowledges these characters’ elevated status within immigrant communities as symbols of hope, empowerment, and cultural connections to the motherland.

This group show will highlight prints from the Self Help Graphics Professional Print Studio, including artists Alma Lopez, Delilah Montoya, Frank Ybarra, Isabel Martinez, Jose Roberto Barrero, Yreina Cervantez, Victor Gastelum, and Chaz Bojorquez, alongside local artists in Los Angeles and Long Beach, including  Adriana Carranza, Aneesa Shami Zizzo, April Bey, Carolyn Castano, Dewey Tafoya, Ernesto Vazquez, Jacqueline Valenzuela, Jose M. Loza, Josiah O’Balles, Mike Alcala, Nao Bustamante, Rey Vargas, and Sayon Syprasoeuth.